1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to pen-based computer systems. In particular, it relates to a method and apparatus for locating an electronic image within a data file by tracing over a portion of a graphical object (which may be text, line data, image data, etc), and electronically converting the pen strokes to search argument data which is used to search the data file. Once the graphical object is located, the page it is stored in is identified, and the electronic image of the page containing the graphical object is displayed on the computer""s display screen.
2. Background Art
The development of compact high-performance computers has resulted in many new applications which heretofore were not feasible due to their demand on system resources. One such application is the pen-based, or tablet, computer. Pen-based computer applications are particularly useful in mobile environments, especially where form data is used. For example, businesses such as delivery services which previously used paper forms can now use a pen-based tablet computer to display an image of a form which the user fills out electronically. In this type of application, the system would normally keep a copy of the form image separate from the data input by the user. This allows the input data to be more conveniently stored and/or transmitted.
Once electronic forms were developed, the next step was the development of multiple-form electronic documents. This type of document may, for example, be a patient questionnaire used by physicians to obtain basic health data from a patient. However, as the size of a multiple page document increases, locating the page within the document that contains a particular item becomes more difficult. A disadvantage associated with multiple page documents is caused by the separation of the form data from the input data, as discussed above. It would be desirable to have a method of identifying an item of input data and then automatically identifying the associated page of form data so that they could be simultaneously displayed on the computer""s display screen.
While addressing the basic desirability of using electronic, rather than paper forms, the prior art has failed to provide a multi-page electronic forms system which is capable of identifying an item of input data that was previously entered, identifying the electronic image which it is associated with, and accessing that electronic image.
The present invention solves the foregoing problems by providing a system that allows an individual who is entering multi-page data into a pen-based system to quickly locate the electronic image of an entered page by tracing over a portion of a graphical object. The system uses the trace data to locate the page containing the graphical object which most closely matches the traced points. Once the electronic image of the input data page is identified, the electronic image can then be viewed or modified. For the convenience of the user, the system can also determine which page of form data applies to the identified page. The correct input data page and form data page are then simultaneously displayed on the computer display screen. The system identifies a graphical object, such as an image, text data, a line drawing, etc, by allowing the user to trace a partial outline of a graphical data item. The trace data is then used to control a search of the input data file for the most likely graphical object which is a match. The page that the graphical object is located on is then displayed along with the corresponding form page.